


The date

by Abraham



Category: Magnum P.I. (TV 2018)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:27:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25618828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Abraham/pseuds/Abraham
Summary: Magnum and Higgins have a series of unfortunate dates.
Relationships: Juliet Higgins/Thomas Sullivan Magnum IV
Comments: 4
Kudos: 91





	The date

His phone startled him.

“Higgins? Everything OK?”

“Can you come pick me up?”

“I thought you were on a date?”

“I was and now I’m not, and I need a ride home. Look, if you’re too busy, I can call an Uber.”

“No. No. I’ll come get you. Are you sure you’re OK?”

“I’m fine Magnum. I’m just …” She didn’t finish her sentence.

“I’ll be right there. Where are you?”

“I’m at an apartment complex downtown. You can ping my phone.”

Magnum resisted asking her any more questions and raced toward the address. He knew she said she was fine, but he also knew she sometimes (always) downplayed what was actually happening. 

He found her sitting on the curb, right where she said she’d be. She stood up as soon as he pulled up.

“Thanks for coming.”

“Of course.” And he waited for her to get settled before turning out of the parking lot. “Are you going to tell me what happened?”

She leaned back against the seat and sighed. “Another brilliant date.”

“I thought you liked this guy?”

“I thought so too, at least enough to go on a second date. He suggested we go to a shooting range for fun.”

“Oh,” Magnum said because he knew exactly where this conversation was going.

“Yes. Oh. He wanted to ‘show the little lady’ the proper stance and tried to put his arms around me and guide my hands. Well. I showed him! I emptied the entire clip right into the bullseye.”

“That’s my girl,” Magnum said, grinning over at her. “Even I know never to challenge you to a shooting contest.”

She smiled back at him. “Well, Todd was not thrilled that he couldn’t ‘teach’ me anything. He sulked the rest of the time we were there and then refused to take me home. He wanted to finish the date at his place.”

Thomas grimaced. “Todd’s still alive, isn’t he?”

“Of course he is. He’s just not feeling so good below the belt.”

Thomas grimaced again. Higgins looked out the window. The sun had started to slip down toward the horizon marking the sky with brilliant color.

“I just don’t get it Thomas. Why is it so hard to find a decent person? It’s not like I want to get married after the first date. I just want someone to take me to dinner. Or send me flowers occasionally.”

Thomas looked over at her. “I don’t know Higgy. You’re asking the wrong person. The woman I wanted to marry tried to kill me.”

She studied him. “We’re quite the pair, aren’t we?”

He suddenly switched lanes and headed toward an exit.

“What are you doing?”

“We’re going to the batting cages.”

“The what?”

“The batting cages. You lock yourself into a fenced-in area and a machine shoots baseballs at you that you then try to hit with your bat.”

“Sounds delightful,” she said, looking at him.

“You’ll love it. You’ll probably kick my butt.”

She smiled at that, and suddenly the evening didn’t seem as depressing anymore. Their cages were right next to each other and after Thomas demonstrated the proper technique, Higgins insisted she was ready to give it a shot. The first couple pitches caught her off guard, but then she figured out the rhythm and was soon launching them against the far wall.

“Way to go Higgy! I knew you would be a natural.” While he was watching her, the next ball flew at him before he was ready and it took him a few minutes to get his swing back. Her laughter, though, made it all worth it. For a while, the only sound between them was the metallic clink of the bat connecting with the ball. They finished up their bucket of balls, and then he treated her to some popcorn at the concession stand. The sun had already gone down and the electric lights hummed, illuminating the area. They sat next to each other at a picnic table, sharing the popcorn.

“So, do you come here often?” she asked.

“Nah. Only sometimes when I’m trying to figure stuff out.”

“I could see it would be good for that,” she said, eating some of the popcorn.

“I spent a lot of time at the batting cages when I was growing up.”

Higgins looked over at him. He rarely talked about his past, but she always loved when he did. 

“My mom would drop me and a buddy off after school. It was the best. We would swing until we couldn’t feel our hands anymore. Then we would buy a hotdog and a sno-cone.”

“What flavor?”

“Blue.”

“Of course,” she said, laughing. “That was always my favorite too. Although, I’m not sure ‘blue’ is a flavor.”

He smiled at her surprised. “I pictured you more of a cotton candy fan.”

“I loved them both. Although I didn’t have them often,” she said, suddenly quiet.

He looked over at her. “We’ll have to change that.” And he stood up and bought both a blue sno-cone and cotton candy.

She laughed delighted as she tried the cotton candy. “Did your mum always pick you up?” she asked.

He used his thumb to wipe a piece of cotton candy off her cheek. And she swallowed, suddenly self conscious.

They started to walk to the car. “Yep. She usually ran errands while I was there. She would pick us up and quiz us about the Tigers players and stats. She was a Dodgers fan, but she pretended to like the Tigers for me.”

Higgins smiled at that and then was quiet for a bit.

“Thanks for tonight, Thomas. You saved me from wallowing in self pity.”

“Any time Higgy.”

The next day, a cheerful bouquet of sunflowers arrived at her door. The card read, “To the most kick-ass partner ever.” She actually laughed out loud when she read it.

Two weeks later, Thomas stopped by the main house around dinner time. 

“You’re just in time,” Higgins said. “Kumu and I are making pizzas. You should join us.”

He smiled at them. “I wish I could. Remember that client from a couple weeks ago? I don’t think you met her, but she needed us to do a couple background checks on potential employees?”

“I remember. They all checked out.”

“Well, she called and asked if I wanted to go to dinner. She’s picking me up at 7.”

“Oh,” Higgins said, with an uncharacteristic pang of something that she couldn’t quite identify. “Well. Have fun then.”

Thomas looked at her for a minute. He suddenly wanted to tell her that he would skip the date.

Kumu and Higgins set about making their dinners and laughing. Why was he dreading this date suddently?

“I’ll see you both later.”

He went back home. Lexi was nice and he should have been attracted to her, but he didn’t feel a thing.

They talked about work. He told some stories about the sticky situations he and Higgins often got themselves into. She laughed and told him his job was much more exciting than auto repairs. She was an office manager at an autobody shop. She did know a lot about cars and was very excited to see Robin’s collection.

They finished the tour and sat out on his patio watching the sunset.

“The last time I was out here, Higgins’ dogs tried to attack me,” Thomas said. 

“Your partner?”

“Yes, she loves when the dogs chase me. It’s her entertainment.”

“Does Higgins live here too?”

“Yeah. She lives in the main house.”

“So you and your partner live together?”

“Yes. But it’s not like that.”

Lexi stood up. “I think I should go.”

“What? Why?”

“I’ll let myself out.”

Higgins was reaching for the door handle just as Lexi opened the front door.

“Oh hi. I’m sorry. I thought you were out,” she said to Thomas.

But before Thomas could respond, Lexi said, “I hope you’re Higgins, because if you’re not, you’re going to hear an awful lot about her. Goodbye Thomas.”

Higgins’ eyebrows shot up as Thomas was shaking his head no.

“What was that all about,” Higgins said.

“Nothing.”

“I thought you were going out?”

“She ended up bringing dinner here, so we ate here. What are you doing here anyway?”

“Kumu and I were looking for a deck of cards.”

He walked over to the cabinet and got out a deck, handing it to her.

“Well, come on,” she said and as she headed toward the door. She wasn’t exactly sure why, but it felt like a huge weight had lifted and she was smiling. “T.C. and Rick are here and we’re playing poker.”

“Why didn’t you say so,” he said, grinning himself as he followed her out.

A week later, they caught a case. A party center had had a series of thefts from weddings recently and their added security cameras had done nothing to solve the problem. 

Magnum and Higgins agreed to pose as guests at a wedding that weekend to see if they could figure out what was happening. He walked into the office right before they had to leave. She looked up and her breath caught in her throat. He always looked good, but she especially liked when he had a suit and tie on. 

“You look great,” she said, smiling up at him.

“So do you.” He had a similar reaction when he walked in. “Are you ready?”

“Let’s go catch some criminals.”

He laughed at her. “OK Colombo, let’s go.”

The wedding reception hall was beautiful. It was situated on the ocean and a light breeze made the lanterns tied to the beams sway back and forth. Magnum and Higgins walked around getting a feel for the place. She was startled when Magnum grabbed her hand.

“Part of the cover,” he said.

She rolled her eyes, but kept holding his hand.

An elderly gentleman appeared from the beach. 

“Look at the two of you,” he said. “I can tell you’re in love. My dear Martha, God rest her soul, was the love of my life. We were together 62 years.”

“Wow. She must have been amazing. I’m Thomas and this is Juliet.”

“Ah, Juliet, like Romeo and Juliet. Although I hope you two are not star-crossed lovers. You can call me Uncle Frankie.”

“Are you on the bride or the bridegroom’s side?” Higgins asked.

“Yes.”

Higgins frowned at Magnum, he shrugged his shoulders as Uncle Frankie walked away.

The music started and the dance floor filled up. A slow song came on and Magnum pulled Higgins out onto the dance floor. “We’ll be able to keep an eye on the gift table from here,” he said.

He pulled Higgins against him. His arm was wrapped around her back and his hand hit bare skin where her dress was open. He expected her to pull away, but was surprised when she relaxed against him and rested her head on his shoulder with her arm around his back. Her other hand was tucked against his chest, held in place by his hand. He was a good dancer and she lost herself in the music, breathing him in. She was definitely in trouble.

He was in the same amount of trouble. This woman was driving him crazy. The thought of her going on another date actually made him mad. He wanted nothing more than to come home and spend every evening with her. It didn’t matter what they would do, as long as they were together.

“It’s you,” he said suddenly, startling her. 

“What?” she asked. At the same time, her eyes slid to the right and widened. “Oh my God! It’s Uncle Frankie.”

“What? Uncle Frankie?”

Higgins spun him so he was facing the gift table. Frankie was definitely up to something. They made their way through the couples on the dance floor and caught up with the man as he was heading for the door.

“Not so fast Frankie, if that’s even your real name,” Magnum said.

Higgins, meanwhile, had alerted the party center owner and they came hurrying over.

“I think we have our number one suspect,” Magnum said, asking Frankie to empty out his pockets. They were stuffed full of cards. It turns out Uncle Frankie wasn’t related to anyone. He just showed up whenever there was a wedding, pretending to be a relative.

Once Uncle Frankie was taken care of, Thomas snagged two bottles of beer, grabbed Higgins’ hand and pulled her outside. The music pulsed behind them, but faded as they walked down the beach. He found a spot in the sand, took off his jacket and laid it down for her to sit on. 

They both sipped their beer and looked out over the water.

“What did you mean earlier when you said, ‘it’s you?’” Higgins asked.

Magnum took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Did I ever tell you what Abby said to me when she broke up with me?”

“No. I don’t think so,” Higgins said, looking at him.

“She said she wasn’t sure she was the girl for me. She said there was someone better suited for me. Someone who knows me in a way that no one else ever will.”

Thomas was looking at her so intently that she thought she would drown in the intensity of the emotion she saw in his eyes. It should have scared her, but it didn’t. 

“I realized tonight that It’s you,” he said. “Although, I think I’ve actually known for awhile. You’re the one I’ve been looking for. That is why it isn’t working with anyone else for either of us.”

He leaned toward her, threading his fingers through her hair and pulling her closer. She swallowed, looking at his lips, and then he kissed her and it was better than anything she had ever experienced.

“It’s about time you figured it out,” she said when he lifted his head. 

“Oh yeah. You already knew?” he asked, resting his forehead on hers.

“I think the batting cages did it for me,” she said.

“That’s it. We’re getting married at the batting cages.”


End file.
